AP, TMZ, and CNN report legendary performer Whitney Houston has died at age 48, as confirmed by her publicist Kristen Foster. She was found at the Beverly Hilton hotel (not by current boyfriend Ray J despite the rumor going around) and the cause of death is not yet known, but one thing is certain: the crew for the Grammy Awards airing tomorrow are scrambling to put together a tribute befitting someone as unbelievably talented and loved as Houston was.

In her short, tumultuous life she earned 6 Grammy Awards, 2 Emmy Awards, 22 American Music Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 7 Billboard #1 singles, and an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Grambling State University. She has sold over 170 million albums and was the first woman to debut at #1 on the Billboard Charts.

I needn’t tell you the difficulties she had with addiction or make jokes about it. We all know about the struggles she had and of her much-publicized divorce from Bobby Brown in 2007. As she told Diane Sawyer in a 2002 interview, “The biggest devil is me. I’m either my best friend or my worst enemy.” Houston entered rehab last May, reported a representative at the time.

In the New York Times’ obituary for her, the paper described her voice thusly: “Ms. Houston’s range spanned five octaves, and her voice was plush, vibrant and often spectacular. She could pour on the exuberant flourishes of gospel or peal a simple pop chorus; she could sing sweetly or unleash a sultry rasp.” Amen.

She is survived by 18 year old daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown. Let’s remember her at her best, like this song for the ages…

And no one, NO ONE, will ever perform the national anthem better than she did at the Super Bowl in 1991…

True story: Whitney will always have a special place in my heart because her video for “Always Love You” was on the tape right before “O.P.P.” on this really cool marathon I taped on MTV back in the day. Man, I used to love me some O.P.P.! One of these days, I should look up on wikipedia what “O.P.P.” stands for…